Brooks King Snake

Question
QUESTION: I bought a Brooks King Snake 2 weeks ago and he still won't eat, any suggestions? I'm trying to feed him thawed pinkies. He looks good, has good muscle tone, but I'm worried because he was only 2 weeks old when I got him, I would expect him to be ravenous.

Any hints you can provide would be awesome. Thank you

ANSWER: Traci,

Thanks for your question. I too have had snakes that for some reason, refuse to eat in their cage. I'm not sure if the smell just gets mixed with the smell of their cage they live in and they can't sense it properly or what. But, this is how I solved it.

Just take your snake out of its cage and put him in some kind of big plastic container that is empty. I call this the 'feeding' container, you should keep it empty and use it to feed your snake everytime you feed him. Just put your snake in there and then introduce the food to it. It should be able to sense the food is there easier because of the new environment. This will also keep your snake from being aggressive because it won't associate your hand in its cage with food.

Try that first because it always worked for my snakes, if it doesnt help let me know and I will see if I can suggest something else. Thanks and good luck.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Yes, I've tried that a couple times, but I went ahead and tried it again with no success. I even warmed up the pinkie a little this time. Will king snakes eat crickets? From my yard? Or do I have to buy them? What about meal worms? I feel totally at a loss with this snake, all my others eat very well.

Thanks
Traci

Answer
Traci,

I have another suggestion for you. Some snakes do better with live food. You can get a 'fuzzy', which is about the same size as a pinkie but with more fur. They sell those live for feeding. Some snakes just respond better to live food. Crickets and mealworms are not in a king snakes diet but you can always give it a shot. From your back yard or the store is the same thing with those. But of course try feeding it a 'fuzzy' first and see what happens.

Let me know if that works.